Barack Obama was on Sunday night accused by senior Republicans of insulting Israel
for preparing to unveil a critic of “Jewish lobby” intimidation in Washington
as his next defence secretary on Monday.

Mr Hagel holds markedly less hawkish views on foreign and military policy than many former colleagues. Photo: GETTY

The president is widely expected to nominate Chuck Hagel, a former senator and a long-standing political ally, today to head the Pentagon following the imminent departure of Leon Panetta.

Republicans sharply criticised the selection, promising to question Mr Hagel on Israel and other controversial views in confirmation hearings by the Senate, which must approve his appointment.

Lindsey Graham, a Senator for South Carolina, on Sunday described the pick as an "in-your-face nomination", telling CNN that Mr Hagel "would be the most antagonistic secretary of defence towards the state of Israel in our nation's history".

Despite being a fellow Republican who sat in the Senate for the party from 1997 to 2009, Mr Hagel holds markedly less hawkish views on foreign and military policy than many former colleagues.

The 66-year-old Vietnam veteran endorsed Mr Obama, a Democrat, in 2008, having criticised the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and urging a less gung-ho approach to America's alliance with Israel.

In a 2006 interview he said that the "political reality" of Washington was that "the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here", prompting allegations that his views verged on anti-Semitic.

"I'm not an Israeli senator. I'm a United States senator," he said in 2008.

Mr Hagel also voted against sanctions on Iran and urged Israel to engage in direct talks with Hamas, the militant Islamic group.

Mitch McConnell, a Senator for Kentucky and the party's leader in the upper chamber, predicted that Mr Hagel would face "a lot of tough questions" from disgruntled Republicans.

"His views with regard to Israel, for example, and Iran and all the other positions that he's taken over the years will be very much a matter of discussion in the confirmation process," he told ABC News.

In addition to ongoing tensions over Iran's nuclear programme, Mr Hagel is also likely to have to confront sharp cuts in spending on the military proposed by Mr Obama and opposed by many Republicans.

Ted Cruz, a newly elected senator for Texas and a favourite of the Right-wing Tea Party movement, said that he too was "concerned" about Mr Hagel's past statements. He accused Mr Obama of being "high on re-election".

Mr Obama's Democratic party holds a majority in the Senate and it is highly unusual for a president's opponents to block the appointment of cabinet secretaries, even in times of sharp political division.

However, while in the minority, Republicans could wield the filibuster – an obstructive tactic – to prevent Mr Hagel's nomination from being brought to a vote.

The pick was defended by Heidi Heitkamp, a Democratic senator for North Dakota, who described Mr Hagel as "a tremendous patriot and statesman".

"This kind of fight is the kind of fight that the people of this country get so frustrated by," Ms Heitkamp told ABC News.

Controversy over the likely nomination comes weeks after fierce Republican opposition torpedoed the hopes of Susan Rice, reportedly Mr Obama's first choice to be Secretary of State.

Ms Rice, America's UN ambassador, came under attack from Mr Graham and two other senators for her role in the administration's public mishandling of the September 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya.

After Ms Rice announced that she was withdrawing her name from consideration, Mr Obama nominated Senator John Kerry, the former presidential candidate, to replace Hillary Clinton.